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Alastair Campbell told the Leveson Inquiry today that former Prime Minister Tony Blair had only spoken six times between 2002 and 2005 with News International chief executive Rupert Murdoch in the run-up to the Iraq war.

However, he pointed out that Mr Murdoch was a “very significant figure in the media landscape”:

Rupert Murdoch, one of the things that makes him different to some of the other media owners, some of whom you saw last week, is that he is a news man. He is interested in what is going on in the world.

I think it is a combination of Rupert Murdoch trying to find out what is going on and also probably saying, 'You know, we're going to support you on this.

It doesn't strike me as that odd, not least because by then I think it is fair to say Tony Blair had very few strong supporters in the media left.

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Tony Blair's former communications chief Alastair Campbell has told the Leveson Inquiry that he was "very friendly" with the News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks. "I really liked her, but friendship is overstating it", said Mr Campbell.

However, he revealed today that he spoke Ms Brooks on average once or twice a week.